Freebies

For your enjoyment, here are some free links and PDFs featuring my work:

Comics

R.E.V.s: Ready to Roll!

A couple years back, I produced a comic for Playmates Toys‘ new line of automotive action figures: R.E.V.s. I wrote it and hired Max Bertolini to supply the wonderful art, and IDW to tackle the lettering. The comic appeared on a CD-ROM included in the box with every R.E.V.s toy. It also featured an animated version of the comic, for which I produced and directed the animation and voiceovers with the hyper-talented James Farr and the guys at JAMIT Studios.

Fiction

For a short sample of any of my novels, just click on the covers in the right-hand column. These take you to each book’s product page at its publisher’s website, where you can learn more about the book and download a sample PDF for free.

The Big Dance: Chapter One

Reaper Miniatures posted the first chapter of my CAV novel.

“The Price of Freedom”

I wrote some fiction for the Legends & Lore cards that appeared in a Mage Knight expansion from WizKids. They seemed to like that, so they asked me to write this tale of Sig Eightfingers for their website too.

“Prometheus Unwound”

This short story won the Origins Award for Best Short Fiction of 2001. It was originally published in The Book of All Flesh from Eden Studios.

Essays

“Choices”

This short essay on RPG.net explains some of the design choices I made with Brave New World.

“The Freelancing Life”

A lot of people ask me how to get started as a freelance writer or designer in the adventure games industry. One of those people was Anna M. Dobritt, who asked on behalf of her short-lived RPG Freelancers Guide. This essay appeared in issue #2, but I’ve posted it here too so that I have a place to point anyone else who might ask me that question again.

“Mutant Memories”

Back in 2004, Thom Talamini of Excelsior Entertainment asked me to write a forward to an upcoming book in his company’s new (the third) edition of Warzone, the Mutant Chronicles miniatures battle game. I’d edited the first edition and had been in on the Mutant Chronicles since just after its first roleplaying game book was published, and he thought the fans of the game might like to read my perspective on it. Flattered by the request, I wrote a short essay about how I got involved in the game and what a dream of a gig it was.

“What I Think of the d20 System”

I do a lot of work with the d20 System, and people often ask me what I think of it. This article, which appeared in the short-lived Campaign Magazine, answers that question.

“What Was I Thinking?”

This essay was originally published in the charity jam book Horsemen of the Apocalypse, edited by Jim Dietz of Jolly Roger Games. A lot of people ask me how I got started as a game designer and what it’s like to work as one. This essay answers those questions as best I can.

Games

Brave New World Character Sheet

Here’s a character sheet for my Brave New World Roleplaying Game, in PDF format.

Dungeons & Dragons Adventure

“Inn Peril” (1.5 MB PDF) is a Dungeons & Dragons 4E adventure designed for use with five 1st-level adventurers. This originally appeared in issue #114 of Game Trade Magazine.

Redhurst Academy of Magic

Way back in 2003, I wrote a d20 system book called Redhurst Academy of Magic for Human Head Studios. The book is out of print, but I still get notes from people searching for bits of it every now and then. I can’t post a PDF of the book, but I do have a number of freebies that used to be hosted on the website of the Human Head Adventure Games Division that I once ran. In particular, I have:

Marvel Heroes Battle Dice

I created this game for Playmates Toys. It’s since gone out of print, but I’ve been given permission to post PDFs of the rules, the attribute list, and the play mat. Now, if you can find enough booster boxes, you can just download these bits and play!

Neverland: The Imagination Game

I developed this game for Starchilde, a now long-defunct game company, in 1991, back when Peter Pan fell temporarily into the public domain. You can get the whole story here. This PDF is available for free, but if you feel like donating to a worthy cause over it, I suggest the Great Ormand Street Hospital Children’s Charity, the choice of J.M. Barrie himself.If you’d prefer an RTF document (readable by most word processors), click here instead.

Seminar Notes

“Advanced Freelancing”

These notes are from the advanced freelancing seminar I held at the 2006 GAMA Trade Show.

“Seven Habits of Effective Freelancers”

These notes are from the introductory freelancing seminar I held at the 2006 GAMA Trade Show.

Personal

“Quadruplets’ Birth Makes History at Rockford Memorial Hospital”

Rockford Memorial Hospital asked to feature our family in an advertorial they placed in the Midwestern edition of US News & World Report. The ad ran in the July 17 2006 issue. The hospital granted me permission to post a PDF of the ad here.